Friday, May 05, 2006

ASIFA Hollywood Animation Archive Project

* This Blog is to support ASIFA - Hollywood Animation Archive Project. The images used here are used with the written consent of Stephen Worth, Director ASIFA Hollywood Animation Archive *_________________________________________________Who hasn't seen Jerry the Mouse, making the life of 'Tom the Cat', miserable. Or who hasn't seen Goofy the GoofDog making us laugh when he is making his own life miserable.

These are not just cartoon characters. They have really made an indelible impression not just on our childhood memories but even today, when we are grown-ups, they still attract us to the television. Old or young, none can deny that these are fun. These cartoons always enjoy a clean repute and image. No blood shed, no war. Yeah there is rivalry but it always ends in a fun-stock. These characters should be called real heroes. They have always propagated friendship.

You just name it and you will have a Cartoon force raring to go. Bugs Bunny, Homer Simpson, The Grinch, The Powerpuff Girls, Mickey Mouse, Popeye, Winnie the Pooh and the list just goes on and on. Recently, CNN has released the list of the top 50 toon characters at cartoon.characters.list

Ok, Now the main thing. The need is to support these cartoon characters and the animation community. The International Animated Film Society: ASIFA-Hollywood has embarked on an ambitious project to create an animation archive, museum, and library for the benefit of the animation community, students and general public. The first phase of this project involves the creation of a VIRTUAL ARCHIVE which will house images, movie clips and sound files pertaining to the art of animation.

You can support these guys by Bookmarking their HOME PAGE, COMMENT using the link at the bottom of each post at the Homepage, lending them ARTWORK to be digitized, Write a BIOPEDIA ENTRY or LETTER OF SUPPORT, CONTRIBUTE to sustain the project, VOLUNTEER to help them reach their goals, LINK TO THEM on your own webpage or blog, and TELL YOUR FRIENDS.

By simply doing this you can support these characters and can say "Thanks" in a 'special' manner.

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Fizzy Beverages : A spell on our health

"I can't live without Coke""Why, I mean....""I dunno but I dont like to drink anything else.""Ok. But you can't do without water""Yes""What Yes""I can. I can go without water for hours. Coke is there na"

This friend of mine seems really taken by Coke. Really, these fizzy drinks had a spell over the young generation which is today much eager to be on US culture then it is to be called Indian. And we have made these carbonated drinks a part of our life inspite of the harmful effects these have on our health. Definitely I also drink these beverages. I know drinking coke or pepsi or any other one on a regular basis can definitely affect my health, whatever is the magnitude.

Photo courtesy: CartoonStock

Yesterday was a good day in this concern. Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Cadbury Schweppes have agreed to stop selling fizzy drinks in US schools, to try to head off criticism over their role in rising childhood obesity.

The "Independent" wrote on 04 May 2006 :

"The companies' image has soured in recent years, turning them from much-loved purveyors of treats to public health enemy number one. So yesterday, the industry signed up to a voluntary ban brokered by the former president Bill Clinton. Primary schoolchildren will have access only to low-fat milk and unsweetened flavoured water, while secondary schools will sell only diet versions of popular drinks such as Coke and Pepsi.

School sales account for only a sliver of the $63bn (£43bn) drinks market but manufacturers are increasingly concerned about the backlash against fizzy drinks. Coca-Cola warned in its annual report this year that concern about obesity had become a legal and public relations problem."

Also Dawn Hudson, the chief executive of Pepsi-Cola North America said,

"It's a much broader issue then what students eat and drink. It is also about what they learn and what they do. This deal provides schools with real-world, common-sense solutions that give students the tools they need to lead healthier lives. We're delighted that our products are part of the equation."

Yeah its true but can he just give some facts which can prove that these drinks are healthy. They will do anything for money. And the same case is with India's industry. The politicians or the reformers which are having only 'Globalisation' as their sole ambition seem to be ignorant about all this. At least in the US they have done something. In India, a person found a condom in the drinks bottle and other one found dust, but nothing happened. These giants certainly have their policies clearly spelt out. The guys were paid for their 'inconvenience' and the issue is 'rafa-dafa'.

This issue urgently needs to be addressed. And it is not just obesity but whole lot of ailments which can result. And in India we can certainly hope that 'something' will happen .... huh.

Clinton was happy yesterday"These industry leaders recognise that childhood obesity is a problem and have stepped up to help solve it. There is a lot of work to be done to turn this problem around but this is a big step in the right direction and it will help improve the diet of millions of students across the country."

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Science Lore: Munich - The real story

Munich doesnt look like a fabricated story. Yeah, the Avner part is a little tailored but the main thing, the Operation Wrath Of God is pretty clear. And this movie has really made a lot of people aware of what happened at Munich Olympics in 1972, because in countries like India, lot of people dont know a single bit about the furious incident.

Saturday, April 29, 2006

Operation Wrath of GOD : Munich Massacre by Steven

Mossads Assassinator did what the Israeli Officials at that time felt and ordered. What happened in 1972 Munich Olympics is just a story for most of us because we just cant feel the ignominy of a nation whose 11 Olympians were butchered in a single night. But 'Munich' by Steven Spielberg has really brought that agony and the hate on screen and has created an impression on my heart and am definitely touched by that.

The Munich Massacre occurred during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, when members of the Isreli Olympic team were taken hostage by the Palestinian terrorist organization Black September – a group with ties to Yasser Arafat's Fatah organization. The terrorist operatives eventually murdered 11 Israeli athletes and one German police officer. Five of the eight kidnappers were killed by police during an abortive rescue attempt. The three surviving captured hostage-takers were later released by Germany, following the hijacking of a Lufthansa airliner.

In response to the attack, Israel planned and carried out the killings of a number of individuals who were responsible. Although it was believed that two of the three surviving hostage-takers were killed as part of these reprisals, some recent evidence appears to indicate otherwise. A prominent Author wrote that the Munich massacre was one of the most significant terror attacks of recent times, one that "thrust the Palestinian cause into the world spotlight, set the tone for decades of conflict in the Middle East, and launched a new era of international terrorism".

The wrath inside the Israelis against those terrorists and then the 'Operation Wrath Of God', the movie is a true masterpiece. Its main protagonist 'Avner' symbolises the whole story what is going in Israel and Palestine. You just dont know where you belong to. If you are a Jew then you are the most hated thing. Eric Bana has done justice with the role. His eyes have that perplexity. Every assasination in the movie was a spellbinder.

This movie is different from other movies because it doesnt have that superhero which is having all type of hy-tech gadgets and he can go anywhere in the den and then he destroys everything and comes out. This is a simple assasinator who doesnt have those superhero gadgets and has to work himself. The movie is so natural that you often start beleiving that you are really a part of the assasination.

Friday, April 28, 2006

Euthanasia - I want to die

Death can intimidate even the 'Satan'. The ethical norms of relieving suffering and respecting patients' rights to self-determination support the permissibility of voluntary physician-assisted death as a last resort for terminally or incurably ill patients. But in India we still have life's importance intact.

This is fourth case of 'Euthanasia Appeal' in India. A 79 year old suffering from a debilitating cardiac ailment is knocking at the Rajasthan High court seeking judicial permission to end his life in case his health deteriorates.

This is a perfect example of Misery. "Oh, I want to die. Let me die". This person says that " I am not critically ill or bedridden permanently". What the heck. Yeah, from tomorrow itself every old man who is having a heart problem will come for 'Euthanasia'. Then from the next day onwards we will have people asking for euthanasia who are having problem with their sugar levels, blood pressure. Then people will come with problems with hearing, sore toes, ankles and a lot of problems old people are supposed to suffer from at this age.

Physician-assisted suicide is one of a spectrum of end-of-life issues in the medical context. Such issues range from withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment to prescribing high doses of pain-relieving medication that may hasten death to performing voluntary euthanasia by administering a lethal injection in response to a patient's request. In physician-assisted suicide, a physician provides but does not directly administer medical means with which a patient can perform a life-taking act. The relevant differences among these related end-of-life practices tend to be obscured by such vague and potentially misleading terms as "passive euthanasia," "double-effect euthanasia," and "aid in dying." For ethical and policy analysis, it is important to clarify these differences. However, because moral complexity and ideological conflict make clarity difficult to achieve, confusion often surrounds end-of-life decisions.

Why don't the authorities announce strictly against such type of appeals because if we can't , "we can't". Or if authorities have to make it then why don't they do it. Holland has made euthanasia as legal. We must look into 'why' these people are professing it correct.

Thursday, April 27, 2006

reservation in india

Reservation in any form is bad........ BAD...............BAD. It was meant for the very first years of India's struggle and was to be scrapped when enough happens. But these politician are hell bent to make India a place of misery for the meritorious people where they cant get a seat because half of the seats are reserved for the backward people and the rest is a bone of contention for 1.2 billion people.